Spar
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: A training session between Raijin and Satan Soul goes awry, but that's okay. Mirajane will just make him spend time with her siblings as retribution. - One-shot.


The day was coming to an end for the slayer in the same way it had begun. An intense workout. That morning though, it had involved his most loyal followers, the Thunder Legion. This one, as the sun slowly vanished from the sky, Laxus found himself sparing with the only person in the world he wanted to be around.

Mirajane Strauss.

She was just her too, no transformations, just Mira, tumbling around with the man, training as well. This wasn't too unusual for the pair. Within the past few months of dating, it had become their usual, Mira's only evening off activity. Well, one of their activities.

Heh.

It caused too much fanfare, for them to do this at the guildhall and even more in the park, so they had to go deep into the forest surrounding the city to find a place where they could be completely alone. Usually, after working up a horrible sweat and becoming nothing, but piles of sore muscles, they'd collapse into the grass together, watching as the night sky began to alight with stars and the rising moon. It wasn't romantic, in the general sense, but for the two of them, it felt that way. Chests heaving and energies drained, nothing could get either of them up from the gentle blades of grass and the cool breeze that the nightfall brought.

More than once, Laxus thought that if he just closed his eyes long enough, there beside his demon, he could fall right asleep.

It really capped off their evenings out there in the forest.

He was actually looking forward to that time, focused on it perhaps a bit too much, as he put a tad too much force behind a punch. When Mirajane easily blocked it though, something instinctual in him made him swing with his other fist, hard and fast, right into her caught off guard face.

"Laxus!"

He only blinked down at where the demon was crumpled on the ground. Lightning was still jumping from his fist and, man, he'd really given it his all, bashing in the face of the love of his life.

"M-Mirajane, are you-"

"What," came a dark growl from the ground and, suddenly, he wasn't talking to his lovable little demon. Oh, no. As the purple tiles appeared around the woman, he was suddenly looking down into the eyes of true terror. "Was that? Laxus?"

"Mira," he cautioned as Satan Soul popped right up. "I didn't mean to- Hey!"

He was the one yelling then as those ghoulish green claws went from her side to forcing out a dark, purplish orb of energy, aimed right towards his head. Easily dodging it, Laxus only growled, "I didn't mean to!"

"You hit me." Fast as lightning, she was moving to return the favor. "Now it's my turn!"

They tussled then, quite heavily, and Laxus lost all reservations now that he wasn't facing his girlfriend, but rather, a devilish entity. The moon had more than come up before they finally called something of a truce, falling this time to different sides of the clearing, neither looking at the other as, going back into her normal form, Mirajane rested on her back and Laxus only sat with his knees to his chest, glaring off.

"I didn't," he finally broached as only crickets chirping softly in the late summer evening could be heard, "mean to punch you. So hard."

"Well, you did."

"Yeah, I know."

"I'm gonna bruise."

"So? Do you not usually? When we-"

"You normally don't hit me in my face. I'm going to tell everyone that you're the one that gave me the black eye."

"You can't."

"I am."

"Mira-"

"I'm going to make a big show out of it too."

"Whatever."

He fell back then, onto the ground, and the moon actually didn't seem to be out that night, not even hiding behind a cloud. The stars were, but they were quite dimmed and the darkness that settled around the pair felt rather heavy.

Eventually, he could hear her shifting around and, though he didn't glance her way, could hear as she approached where he lay, slowly falling into the spot beside him. She always looked so different, when she wasn't wearing her typical dresses that she usually did, up at the hall. He liked her better though, out of them. In something different. Just for him. Separate from those freaks up at the bar.

Because he was. Separate from them. She was for him too. Anyone else came at them like that, with their super powerful ultimate form and, well, he might have had to pummel them into the ground.

On purpose.

"I'll just transform."

"Huh?"

"Into myself," Mirajane reasoned for him. "Into a perfect version of myself. It's simple. I do it whenever I have something I want to hide."

"What? You getting socked in the face often?"

"I could always just tell everyone you hit me."

He paled at the thought. It was weird. The idea of them getting too rough in training wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility, but he had a bad feeling everyone would immediate assume the worst and, though he didn't care what any of the others thought, he just didn't want people to think that way of him. For some reason.

Was he ill? Since when did he care about the opinion of those morons?

"You just don't want them to know that you got your ass kicked."

It was Mirajane's turn to frown. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You should have eaten that punch. You didn't." He sneered over at her then. "Losing your touch? Satan Soul my ass. Minor demon at most."

"That's why I had you on the ropes, huh?"

"I was going easy on you. Felt bad. Didn't want any tears when I creamed ya."

He could feel her heavy gaze then, but the slayer's eyes were back on the sky, lazily watching as a cloud drifted over them It was hard to miss, the smell. He could tell a mile off. They'd have a storm that night. They couldn't stay out there forever.

Not that they could anyways. Mira had work in the morning.

"Anyways," Mirajane was going on then (he was nearly certain she was aware, even on her best day, Satan Soul had nothing on Raijin), "Laxus, what did you want to do tonight?"

"This," he told her as his hands came up then, to cradle his head, and he kind of made something of a gesture around them. "Nothing. You. Dinner. All those things."

She let out a short breath in response before telling him, "I need you to do something for me tomorrow."

Anything. He didn't say this, he wouldn't say this, but he figured his silence conveyed it far better than his words ever would be able.

"Elf and Ever's anniversary is coming up."

"Their what?"

"Their-"

"They're dating?"

"We're not going through this again."

"News to me," he insisted. "Considering, you know, the two never talk or speak or-"

"Laxus-"

"And they hate each other. Have they both reiterated that to you recently? I heard about it from her, oh, a week ago and him just a few-"

"He wants to get her something and I want you to help him."

Anything suddenly had an all knew connotation.

"Mirajane-"

"Oh, and after that-"

"I'm not doing that."

"-I need you to come over to the house and help Lisanna with something."

"What could she possibly want?"

"She needs you to help her move some stuff around in her room."

"What stuff in her room?"

"Her dresser needs to be moved so that-"

"Mirajane, why can't your brother just help her?"

"I think she just wants to spend time with you."

"And you're not bothered? At all? That your sister wants to hang out with me? In her room? Me? Laxus Dreyar?"

"Should I be?"

"How hard did I hit you? Have you looked at me? I'm concerned!"

She seemed unimpressed. "So that's your day for tomorrow, huh? Remember to be nice. They'll tell me if you weren't."

Laxus only made a face that, wishing to argue. It was poised on his tongue too, his argument. But Mirajane only pointed absently up at the slight swelling she still had around her right eye.

"You did hit me," she said with a bit of a shrug. "Remember?"

Oh he remembered. Had he not, he definitely wouldn't have spent the entire next day with her dorky siblings. Or maybe he would have. He just wouldn't have an excuse for it.

No excuse for why he walked around the market with Elfman for literal hours, mind-numbingly looking for Evergreen a gift who would only, like always, act aloof and unimpressed anyways. Laxus tried to use the time to impart some wisdom on the big oaf, about how, you know, if you're constantly having to chase a woman, yeah, it can be fun at first, but after a few years...maybe there's nothing more behind it.

To no avail, of course.

Sigh.

Then he got to the Strauss household, all ready to put on the big brother front with Lisanna only to find that he wasn't really needed at all! She'd lied to her sister about that, to get him over there, where she expected him to supply her with an alibi as she took a way too hard job, all alone, that Elf and Mira would have insisted on accompanying her on, had they know, and he didn't want to agree to that one either. Tried to inform her that, for one, having Natsu take a job in his name and then her complete it was kind of, well, shady to say the least, he wasn't sure if it went against guild regulations or not, but it felt as if it did. Also though that, you know, she was growl. Completely grown. Maybe it was time to stop letting her siblings baby her. She could take care of herself. She'd learned from her horrible, terrible mistake and they had too. All of them had to move on eventually.

But Laxus only halfheartedly moved Lisanna's dresser a bit, so Mira would be suspicious, then instructed the girl to be back before the next day, when her sister would note her absence, and that if she got found out, she better not bring up his name.

She would, of course, when she returned victorious three days later after Laxus only fielded questions from Mirajane about her whereabouts the whole time (he was starting to fear the she-devil thought he'd murdered her or something…), which sh e then rubbed in her siblings face. Though, after her anger subsided, Mirajane was quite proud of her little sister, the tongue lashing Laxus got later that night from her was not worth it.

At all.

Stupid Lisanna. Elfman. Mirajane. Stupid Strausses, really.

But even knowing how it would all turn out, as he laid there in the grass with his girlfriend, Laxus probably would have still done it all. For all of them. Well, for Mirajane. And Lisanna. Elfman was a lost cause.

He had hit their sister in the face, after all. He had to make up for such a transgression. Yes. That was the only reason he did anything for those damn Strausses. Or at least that's what he insisted, a few days later, when he was in the clearing again, with the Thunder Legion once more.

"Ah, we get ya, boss," Bickslow insisted with a nod of his head. "Who doesn't do for their woman, huh?"

"The Strausses are quite hard to deny," Freed agreed amicably.

Evergreen only scoffed though. "Who even cares about them?"

They did. Him and her. Laxus. Well, maybe Ever didn't. Or did, but couldn't. Or something? Laxus didn't care. He only frowned as they sat around after practice, shooting the breeze. It always turned into the other three listening to the slayer though. Whether about his life, his recent jobs, or just them basking in his glow.

"It did feel pretty great, anyways," he admitted slowly. "Fighting the actual Satan Soul."

"Great," Freed remarked with a bit of a frown, "isn't how I'd phrase it."

"I'd hit her again," Bickslow offered. "Pow! Right in the jaw. Get her to turn more often."

"I," Evergreen was quick to dissuade, "would not."

Still, Laxus only titled his head back, staring up at the sky. If he didn't go on a job soon, he might as well stick around to the demon's off day. When he'd get to be there again. With Mirajane. How he wanted. The others were great, of course. They were his only true friends. But Mirajane…

"Yeah," he agreed softly. "Maybe I will sock her one in the jaw. Fight the demon again."

This excited Bickslow, concerned Freed, and only made Evergreen question just what sort of relationship the slayer and the woman had.

But Laxus knew. Better than anyone, he knew. That was all that mattered.


End file.
